When sleeping, a person commonly uses a pillow for supporting the head and neck areas. The thickness of the pillow required for proper support varies from person to person because of shoulder width, head and neck size and weight. Moreover, the required thickness and support of a pillow depends on how the person is oriented when sleeping, such as whether a person's shoulders are horizontal or vertical. In the horizontal shoulder position, less support is required than in the vertical shoulder position because of the varying distance between the portion of the head adjacent the bed surface depending on the position of the shoulders.
Failure to provide the proper support of the head and neck while sleeping can result in a stiff neck and/or shoulders.
Some persons commonly sleep with two pillows laid on top of each other to increase the height of support that is provided. Such increased height may generally provide the proper support when the person's shoulders are in the vertical position, since the person's head is further away from the surface of the bed. However, when the person is in the horizontal shoulder position (prostrate), the pillow support surface is too high for the support height that is required. Thus, utilizing two stacked pillows also fails to provide proper sleeping positions when laying flat and prostrate.
A need exists for a pillow that provides optimum head and neck support regardless of a person's horizontal or vertical shoulder orientation while sleeping.